On Memorial Day and Mascots

In the mid-size town where I live, the Annual Memorial Day parade is a big deal.  It is a grand event with scout troops, horses, floats of varying kinds, fire trucks, police cars and red, white and blue bunting everywhere.  In my town there are several boroughs and villages, and each has their own fire department.  Many of them are staffed completely by volunteers. Women and men donate countless hours to keep our community and villages safe and I am deeply grateful to all who give so tirelessly.

My particular village is staffed by a volunteer department.  I am proud of those who marched and were part of the parade.  However, I was deeply troubled by their mascot.  It is a blow up figure of a caricatured Native American holding a fire ax.  The sight left me speechless.  All their uniforms, hats and paraphernalia bear the same cartoon image. 

What were they thinking?  Is it that people have become so numb to the insult this is to Native Americans that folks don’t notice?  Have we so fully appropriated cultural images that we think we are entitled to use whatever images we choose? After all there are teams like the Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Black Hawks and Atlanta Braves that make use of Native American caricatures of mascots.

Pockets of protest erupt periodically to encourage sports teams to change, but to date such protests have fallen on deaf ears.  I don’t know what my little fire department was thinking, but I wonder if it’s the notion that if it’s okay for multimillion dollar sports teams, it’s okay for them.

Rhode Island has a long and proud tradition of Native American peoples. The Narragansetts, Nipmucs, Pequots and Wampanoag tribes were predominant when white European settlers arrived.  Within a few generations war, genocide and disease decimated the Native peoples. Chances are good the story is much the same where you live.

Many people see the use of Native American mascots as a harmless act, but it continues a system of domination and marginalization. It perpetuates stereotypes of Native peoples and minimizes the systemic prejudice that abounds to this day. And for the record, we who are NOT Native American do not get to decide what is appropriate and what is marginalizing.  We who are NOT Native American do not get to decide what contributes to cultural bias and prejudice. 

The Society of Indian Psychologists wrote, “Stereotypical and historically inaccurate images of Indians in general interfere with learning about them by creating, support and maintaining oversimplified and inaccurate view of indigenous people and their cultures.”  The American Psychological Association issued a resolution “recommending the immediate retirement of American Indian mascots, symbols, images and personalities by schools, colleges, universities, athletic teams and organizations.”  Similar resolutions have been adopted by the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, the American Sociological Association, the American Counseling Association and the American Anthropological Association. A host of religious organizations have also called for the ban of Native American mascots.

Unfortunately, the calls often fall on deaf ears.  The economic cost of designing new mascots, making new uniforms and changing all advertising media creates tremendous resistance.  My little fire department would surely be challenged by the enormity of changing their mascot.

This does not in any way relieve them of the responsibility to do so.  There is a striking double standard in the world of mascots and identity.  No one would consider using black face as a mascot, or wearing black face to a sporting event.  However, war paint and cultural appropriation of Native symbols at sporting events is common. We have some cultural sensitivity to learn.  We have some advocacy skills to put to use in the ongoing subjugation of Native peoples.

It may not bother YOU, but it is painful to those who are minimized by the images.